RigoSharon
LIVING REEFS INTERN
sorry to read that about your tanks....reading this gave me goosebumps....keep us updated...
Kalk Disaster
- Thread starter Bifferwine
- Start date
VAreef
Reefing newb
This sounds alot like another post on here. Someone posted a link to an article where the dude left his kalk or something like that on accidently and it did the same exact thing your describing. I think if I remember right he added vinegar then did massive water changes and it took a few days to actually get back to normal. I think he did lose a few corals etc.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
Wish I'd seen this thread sooner, Kalk overdose is a common problem and you're not the only person to have done this so don't feel bad.
How to Respond to a Kalk Overdose - WAMAS Forums
How to Respond to a Kalk Overdose - WAMAS Forums
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Thanks, that's exactly what I did (add white vinegar), but I added way too much apparently!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Update: Thank god, the 90 gallon looks really good. Corals aren't in tip-top shape, but they are all open and alive. Even the shrimp, starfishes and clam are doing fine -- so if those guys are out and about, then things must be okay. All fish are accounted for. The pH is still at 7.8 though.
The 10 gallon on the other hand, looks like shit. The rics are all discolored and scrunched up. The water is really cloudy and the rics still have stringy mucous coming out of their mouths. The pH is fine at 8.2, but obviously something in the water is still off.
NDB was kind enough to make me 30 gallons of water while I was at work today, and I added in the salt when I got home. I'm going to do water changes on both tanks tonight when the salt finishes mixing.
The 10 gallon on the other hand, looks like shit. The rics are all discolored and scrunched up. The water is really cloudy and the rics still have stringy mucous coming out of their mouths. The pH is fine at 8.2, but obviously something in the water is still off.
NDB was kind enough to make me 30 gallons of water while I was at work today, and I added in the salt when I got home. I'm going to do water changes on both tanks tonight when the salt finishes mixing.
puttycat
Reefing newb
Glad to hear most things are back to normal. I just use an airline valve to drip mine. Pour 1/4 cup vinegar then add Mrs Wages Pickling Lime until it gets cloudy then add a gallon of water. I only drip 1 drop/sec or it starts to fill up my sump to much.
Look up Randy Farley he has all kinds of articles about this.
Look up Randy Farley he has all kinds of articles about this.
parrotchute
DUSTOFF MEDEVAC
Sarah,
SO sorry to hear about that, glad things seem to be recovering - I feel for you, I think I'd be up all night with a disaster like that too.
Ever think about getting a controller? Mine has a audible alarm if params start getting wacky...helps me sleep at night.
Alex
SO sorry to hear about that, glad things seem to be recovering - I feel for you, I think I'd be up all night with a disaster like that too.
Ever think about getting a controller? Mine has a audible alarm if params start getting wacky...helps me sleep at night.
Alex
puttycat
Reefing newb
I think everyone has done something like this. I forgot to empty my skimmer overflow and had about 1 1/2 gallons of skimmer water drip onto my carpet and into the basement. That was not a good smell when I got home from work :sfish: :pooh:
wontonflip
I failed Kobayashi Maru
I'm glad your friends in the 90 are doing better. I hope your 10g pulls through. And this really doesn't make you a bad pet owner, even though you want to keep blaming yourself. Sometimes things just happen, and you just learn and change how you do things in the future. Plus you've given people a valuable lesson in how to handle this. Kudos to NDB for being supportive :)
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
Kalk doesn't go bad. There is nothing in it to go bad as long as it stays dry since it's only calcium hydroxide.
Precipitation events are not that uncommon. The main thing is don't panic and don't make any major changes.
What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium?
"When limewater is substantially overdosed, the transient precipitation of magnesium hydroxide from normal use may not be the only precipitate that forms. If the pH becomes elevated and stays that way long enough, calcium carbonate can precipitate throughout the water column. In such situations, the entire aquarium can become very cloudy, looking almost like skim milk (Figures 9 and 10). Such precipitation events have the beneficial effect of lowering the pH and alkalinity that were raised by the overdose, limiting the ongoing damage that takes place. In many cases, there is no apparent harm after a day or two, but in a few rare cases, when the overdose was especially extensive, a tank crash can occur, killing many organisms."
"The following important points should help in dealing with a limewater overdose:
Precipitation events are not that uncommon. The main thing is don't panic and don't make any major changes.
What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium?
"When limewater is substantially overdosed, the transient precipitation of magnesium hydroxide from normal use may not be the only precipitate that forms. If the pH becomes elevated and stays that way long enough, calcium carbonate can precipitate throughout the water column. In such situations, the entire aquarium can become very cloudy, looking almost like skim milk (Figures 9 and 10). Such precipitation events have the beneficial effect of lowering the pH and alkalinity that were raised by the overdose, limiting the ongoing damage that takes place. In many cases, there is no apparent harm after a day or two, but in a few rare cases, when the overdose was especially extensive, a tank crash can occur, killing many organisms."
"The following important points should help in dealing with a limewater overdose:
1. Don't panic! These overdoses do not usually cause a tank to crash.
2. The primary concern is pH. If the pH is 8.6 or lower, you need not do anything. If the pH is above 8.6, then reducing the pH is the priority. Direct addition of vinegar or soda water is a good way to accomplish this goal. Either one mL of distilled white vinegar, or six mL of soda water, per gallon of tank water will give an initial pH drop of about 0.3 pH units. Add either to a high flow area that is away from organisms (e.g., a sump).
3. Do not bother to measure calcium or alkalinity while the tank is cloudy. The solid calcium carbonate particles will dissolve in an alkalinity test, and all of the carbonate in them will be counted as if it were in solution and part of "alkalinity." The same may happen to some extent with calcium tests. Wait until the water clears, and at that point, alkalinity is more likely to be low than high. Calcium will likely be mostly unchanged.
4. The particles themselves will typically settle out and disappear from view over a period of 1-4 days. They do not appear to cause long term detrimental effects to tank organisms.
5. Water changes are not necessarily beneficial or needed in response to a limewater overdose."
2. The primary concern is pH. If the pH is 8.6 or lower, you need not do anything. If the pH is above 8.6, then reducing the pH is the priority. Direct addition of vinegar or soda water is a good way to accomplish this goal. Either one mL of distilled white vinegar, or six mL of soda water, per gallon of tank water will give an initial pH drop of about 0.3 pH units. Add either to a high flow area that is away from organisms (e.g., a sump).
3. Do not bother to measure calcium or alkalinity while the tank is cloudy. The solid calcium carbonate particles will dissolve in an alkalinity test, and all of the carbonate in them will be counted as if it were in solution and part of "alkalinity." The same may happen to some extent with calcium tests. Wait until the water clears, and at that point, alkalinity is more likely to be low than high. Calcium will likely be mostly unchanged.
4. The particles themselves will typically settle out and disappear from view over a period of 1-4 days. They do not appear to cause long term detrimental effects to tank organisms.
5. Water changes are not necessarily beneficial or needed in response to a limewater overdose."
Brian_G
overly obsessed
Wow. Great article cccapt!
fastrd400
It wasn't me!
Holy hell Biff! What's going on over there? You are the last person I would expect to hear this from. I hope everything recovers for you. And don't feel bad, you are not a bad pet owner. A bad pet owner would have done nothing to try and remedy the situation. Just a simple mistake that anyone could have made. I'd give ya a hug, but my arms don't reach that far.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
The only bad pet owner is Smitty's ex!
cthegame
Reef enthusiast
keeping my fingers crossed for you biff.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Thanks everyone.
Here's a question.
The corals are looking okay. The ones that are suffering the most are the 3 hammers, frogspawn, torch and cabbage leather. The leather is totally shriveled, and the euphyllias haven't opened up again since the kalk overdose. The blastos have still only opened halfway. No corals are dead, though. The zoas look totally normal, as do my SPS and other LPS. The shrimp is totally fine, the clam is looking healthy, and the fish are totally fine. My two big starfish are fine, and my longspine urchin is fine (still haven't seen the Tuxedo).
BUT every mini brittle star in my tank has worked its way out of the rocks in the last two days and died on the sandbed. It's like a starfish graveyard -- hundreds of them. I took pics this morning and I'll post them later. It's crazy.
I did a full suite of tests last night: ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all zero, pH, calcium and alk are back in normal range again.
So what is happening that it has killed hundreds of mini brittles and some of my corals are still bothered? What could possibly take those guys out, but not hurt more sensitive critters like the shrimp, clam or SPS?
After seeing all the dead stars last night, I hooked up the Rena and have been running carbon. There's no improvement this morning, if anything even more stars crawled out to die.
What's going on?
Here's a question.
The corals are looking okay. The ones that are suffering the most are the 3 hammers, frogspawn, torch and cabbage leather. The leather is totally shriveled, and the euphyllias haven't opened up again since the kalk overdose. The blastos have still only opened halfway. No corals are dead, though. The zoas look totally normal, as do my SPS and other LPS. The shrimp is totally fine, the clam is looking healthy, and the fish are totally fine. My two big starfish are fine, and my longspine urchin is fine (still haven't seen the Tuxedo).
BUT every mini brittle star in my tank has worked its way out of the rocks in the last two days and died on the sandbed. It's like a starfish graveyard -- hundreds of them. I took pics this morning and I'll post them later. It's crazy.
I did a full suite of tests last night: ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all zero, pH, calcium and alk are back in normal range again.
So what is happening that it has killed hundreds of mini brittles and some of my corals are still bothered? What could possibly take those guys out, but not hurt more sensitive critters like the shrimp, clam or SPS?
After seeing all the dead stars last night, I hooked up the Rena and have been running carbon. There's no improvement this morning, if anything even more stars crawled out to die.
What's going on?
ccCapt
Reef Hacker
Just a guess, but they are small and maybe the high pH spike put a hurt on them and they couldn't recover.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
You changed your Ph very suddenly and Ph shock is bad. Did you get rid of your asterina?!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
No, the asterinas are fine! Go figure!
I know pH shock is bad, but I'm puzzled as to why the mini brittles seem to be the only ones that were killed by it. Even my SPS are looking normal.
NDB thinks that they heard I had ordered a harlequin, and they decided on mass suicide rather than be taken out one by one at the claws of a predator.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
lol! :lol:
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Here are some pics of the starfish massacre that my recent kalk overdose caused. All of these guys jumped out of the rocks and ended up on the sandbed. It's like the Brittle Holocaust in my tank! (Glass is clouded up from the overdose, still. Sorry.)
